C.O.D.
"C.O.D." is the ninth episode of season 2, and overall the thirty-second produced hour of Person of Interest. It originally aired on December 6, 2012. Synopsis A cabbie pulls over and his passenger tells him to circle the phone and wait for his call, and he'll get $500 when he picks the man up. Finch and Reese check on their new Number, cab driver Fermin Ordonez. Fermin is a Cuban defector and former baseball player who dropped out when he tore a ligament, and emptied out everything from his saving account. Finch gets into Fermin's cab and hacks his onboard computer system to find out more about him. Reese suggests that he try small talk and Finch chats about how a cab driver was recently robbed by a passenger. He figures Fermin is a good judge of character and asks him to assess his passenger. Fermin is surprisingly good and when they arrive, he tips heavily. Reese continues following Fermin while Finch piggybacks on Fermin's cloned phone and monitors the passengers. One of them asks him to turn on the radio for a baseball game and Fermin refuses, claiming the radio is broken. When the passenger starts kicking the seat, Fermin pulls over and the passenger runs away. Reese figures that Fermin doesn't want to listen to baseball after what happened to his arm, and Finch warns that it's impossible to monitor all of Fermin's passengers. Finch calls Carter and she checks to confirm that Fermin has a clean record. He asks about her date with Beecher from what he overheard via her monitored cell phone, and Carter hangs up. As she goes back to work, Carter notices an article about the upcoming trial of HR members. The Machine checks the HR organization, monitoring calls, and overhears Scarface telling his men not to do business with the crooked cops anymore. Simmons meets with Quinn and tells him that the FBI investigation into HR is wrapping up. Quinn warns that they have a larger problem: revenue. He admits that they made a mistake by turning their back on Elias, who is still running the underworld from jail, and tells Simmons to set up a meeting so they can go back to business. Before Simmons goes, Quinn tells him to take some backup in case things go wrong. Simmons then calls Fusco to call in a favor. Reese watches Fermin stop at an electrical store. Inside, Fermin talks to the owner, Aziz Manoor, who gives him $800 for a laptop that he brought in. The cab driver thanks Aziz and goes out to the trunk of his cab and puts the money inside a bag. Reese spots the garbage bag and tells Fermin that he knows where the money is. Fermin then goes to a restaurant and meets with a Senor Mendoza. He shows Mendoza a photo of his wife Maria and son Jorge that he wants to smuggle out of Cuba. Mendoza tells Fermin that the price has gone up and he can only afford to get out one or the other. Fermin objects, warning that the secret police are onto his wife, but Mendoza says that it's beyond control. When Fermin wonders where he'll get another $40,000, Mendoza reminds him that it's the land of opportunity. Finch and Reese wonder what Fermin will do to get his family back. Finch hacks the Cuban government's database and confirms that Fermin pitched for the Cuban national team before he defected. If they spot Maria trying to defect then they'll throw her in prison, and they figure that Fermin is desperate. Reese continues his surveillance and sees Fermin meet with a second baseman for New York, Rafael Acosta. Rafael defected with Fermin and has been having a good career year. Fermin approaches his friend and admits that he's been out of touch. He says that he needs money for his family and Rafael gives him some money and leaves. Simmons calls Fusco again and the detective says to count him out. When Simmons reminds Fusco that he has blackmail information on him, Fusco caves. The two of them and a third man, Bowman, meet with Scarface and his men. Scarface wonders what HR can offer him and Simmons offers the last surviving Mafia Don, Grifoni, in return for Elias' support in rebuilding HR. After calling his boss, Scarface says that Elias accepts his offer but wants HR to deliver Grifoni personally. Simmons agrees and Scarface leaves with his men. Carter checks Fermin's GPS log and checks on an address that the cab driver stayed at for 25 minutes the previous night. The police are already there and Detective Terney explains that they have a murder victim. The man was shot repeatedly and dumped off a bridge with no ID. The Secret Service is on the scene and Terney says that they arrived as soon as they called in the murder. Carter meets with the head agent, Regina Vickers, who tells Carter that it's need to know. When Carter pushes, insisting that she needs an ID, Vickers says that the dead man is Vadim Pushkov and they're looking for a laptop or phone that he might have had on him when he died. All Terney has found is receipts and half of a $100 bill and Vickers notes that Pushkov arrived at JFK and died a few hours later with no luggage. She wonders who drove him there and figures that the driver may be the shooter or a witness. Once she's alone, Carter calls Finch with what she's found out and how the Secret Service is involved. He tells her to find out what she can. Finch does some checking and tells Reese that Pushkov was apparently an international criminal. Meanwhile, Fermin picks up a blonde woman who tells him to drive to Queens. Finch can't hack her phone and Reese follows them down a one-way street in the warehouse district. He figures that the woman has isolated Fermin deliberately. The woman flashes a $100 bill and demands to know what Fermin knows about Pushkov and if he left anything there. Fermin insists that he turned in the cab and he didn't find anything there, and the woman gives him the $100 and walks away. Reese gets in the cab and draws a gun on him, and says that they're in trouble. Two cars box them off and shooters open fire. Reese tells Fermin to drive and aim for the rear of one car, and provides cover fire as they ram past the car drive out of the alleyway. Once they're clear, Fermin pulls over and demands answers. Finch traces the woman's call and confirms that the woman called the Estonian mob. Reese disables the GPS in the taxi so that the Estonians can't track Fermin down, and then asks about Pushkov. Fermin insists that he knows nothing about Pushkov but Reese figures that he's lying and tells him to decide if his life is worth whatever was left in the cab. The cab driver finally admits that he understood enough Russian to learn that Pushkov was trying to sell something called H-Said. Reese asks what Pushkov left and Fermin admits that the man left a laptop under the seat, and he sold it to Aziz for money because Pushkov stiffed him on the tab. Reese figures that Pushkov left the laptop in the cab for safekeeping and they wonder what's on it. He figures that the Estonians will kill Pushkov just for knowing about the laptop and go talk to Aziz. When Reese and Fermin go to Aziz's electronics store, they find his corpse in the back office. Finch confirms that Aziz sold the laptop and warns that the laptop may have a beacon that allows the Estonians to track it. He hacks Aziz's e-mail account and discovers that he sold it to a man with the Internet handle of D3mn8. Finch figures that D3mn8 will try to sell it on a black market forum and promises to track him down and negotiate a meeting. Reese warns Fermin that he'll be next and gets the cab driver out of the shop. Reese calls Carter and tells her what happened, and asks her to keep an eye out for the blonde woman. He texts her Aziz's address and tells Carter that the man is dead. As they drive, Fermin complains about his bad luck and Reese points out that he's working with Mendoza. The cab driver explains that Mendoza help smuggle him and Rafael out of Cuba in 2005. Once he was injured, he couldn't make money and became a nobody, so Mendoza tried to hit him up for more money to get Fermin's family out. Reese assures Fermin that he did a brave thing for his family but the Cuban isn't convinced. He tells the cab driver that he can make things right but he'll have to trust him. Carter calls Vickers in and tells her what she knows, claiming that Reese is an anonymous CI. The detective figures that there's something embarrassing to the government on the laptop and says that she wants to help, and Vickers tells her that Pushkov was a lone wolf hacker. They have no idea what Pushkov was up to. Carter gets a text message with Aziz's address and she takes Vickers with her, explaining what happened to Aziz. Finch checks in with Reese and informs him that H-Said is the Homeland Security Automated Identification Database. Pushkov stole the information on thousands of travelers and planned to sell it to terrorists who could use the stolen credentials to smuggle their own people into the U.S. The information is useless if its existence becomes public knowledge so the Estonians are eliminating all possible witnesses. Finch then discovers that D3mn8 has posted the laptop online and is asking for $50,000. They figure that D3mn8 knows what he has and Finch tries to set up a meet and buy the laptop. That night, Finch negotiates a price and sends Reese and Fermin to the address to make the buy. When they arrive, there's no one there but a security camera is mounted on the wall. Simmons calls Fusco at the station and tells him that he and Bowman will get the package as planned. Fusco insists that he has to keep his nose clean and Simmons warns him that he's sealed his fate. As Fusco hangs up his phone, he receives an e-mail with video showing him killing IA Det. Ian Davidson. Simmons then sends him a text message telling him to bring in Grifoni. D3mn8 calls Finch and tells him the sale is off because he doesn't like how Reese looks. However, Finch piggybacked on D3mn8's signal and traced him to the Yeongson Pool Hall. As Reese goes to his car, two of the Estonians attack him and he takes them down. Finch realizes that he'll have to meet D3mn8 on his own and leaves with Bear. Fusco calls Reese, who says that it's a bad time and continues fighting. The detective then calls Simmons and says that he's in. Carter and Vickers review the security footage from the store and see when Aziz left to sell the laptop. They spot the blonde woman come in and confirm that her name is Irina Kapp. She walked out of the store and ten minutes later Aziz was dead. Finch goes to a bar and spots D3mn8. D3mn8's backup tries to stop Finch but Bear growls at him and Finch goes over to meet with D3mn8. Finch realizes that D3mn8 has already made a deal with the Estonians and tells him that he'll give him $100,000, double the asking price. In return, D3mn8 has to move out of his mother's basement and move far away. Finch rattles off D3mn8's personal information and says that some bad people are looking for the laptop. After a moment, D3mn8 takes the money and leaves. Reese checks in with Finch, who assures him that that he has the laptop. However, as he tries to leave Irina comes over and says Finch has something that belongs to her. Finch tells Irina that he's not giving her the laptop at any price. Four of her men come in and Bear starts barking. Irina tells her men to shoot the dog, but Reese arrives and takes them out. Bear takes down one man while another one prepares to shoot Reese, Fermin throws a pool ball and knocks him out. Reese calls Carter, who warns him that they got a hit on Irina's phone at the pool hall. She tells them to get out and Reese asks Fermin for a ride. Fusco and Bowman go to Grifoni's safehouse. As they wait for the mobster to come out, Fusco gets a call from Reese and asks Bowman to step out of the car. Reese asks what he called about earlier and Fusco says that it's nothing and everything's fine. Once he hangs up, Bowman tells him that Grifoni is coming out. They move in on him at his car but he sees them and laughs. When they ask what's going on, he tells them that they're going to get hit. Grifoni's man emerges from the car and shoots Bowman down. The mobster tells Fusco that he's trying to get back into Elias' good graces and wants Fusco to give Simmons and HR a message. While Carter and Vickers try to locate Irina, Fermin pulls over to inspect the damage on his car. Finch assures him that a new one is on the way and Reese gives him a tip: the laptop. Fermin goes to the station and offers to give them the laptop in return for some money and some help from the Coast Guard. Sometime later, Fermin watches a baseball game while Reese plays with Bear. Carter brings Jorge and Maria to the park and Fermin reunites with his family. He hugs Maria and then plays catch with his son. Carter goes over to Reese, who asks her what is going on with Lionel. She doesn't know about anything but says that she'll keep an eye on him. Reese whistles for Bear and the two of them walk off. Fusco meets Simmons at the station and tells him that they were double-crossed. Simmons wonders why they let Fusco walk away and Fusco says that it was to give HR a message: "Go to hell." Fusco agrees and walks away. Simmons calls Carter and gives her an anonymous tip. She tells Fusco that someone claimed that Davidson was murdered by another cop. Trivia *C.O.D. - Cash On Delivery; Title of the Episode *Micheal Irby who plays Fermin, this week's Person of Interest, is mostly known for his role as Explosive Specialist, Sergeant First Class Charles Lewis Grey on "The Unit" (allegedly the Delta Force), a show which centered around a group of elite American operatives who carried out missions which needed plausible deniablity (Covert/Clandestine missions). It is a bit ironic that a man who portrayed a Special Forces Operator who can overcome any challenge (also, he is a student of the Isreali self-defense system Krav Maga off-screen), is playing the role of an Cuban defector, who is afraid of his own shadow, desparately trying to bring his family to America Production notes *C.O.D was originally titled "Hack". Bloopers and continuity errors *When escaping the Estonian mob, the taxi hits the Estonian vehicle with the left side of the cab, but we later see the right side as the damaged side. *When John arrived at the arranged place with the taxi driver to make a deal with the hacker, it was 19:32. Later they ran into a fight and almost at the same time Fusco received a threatening call from Simons. According to Fusco's wathc, it was around 20:10. Then he got a mail from Simons which according to the screen monitor was sent around 17:00. Featured locations The place where Reese and Fermin retreat to after the ambush is actually filmed at the underpass of the Manhattan approach to the Macombs Dam Bridge. It is not the Queensboro Bridge as identified on the Machine feed. A point of interest, Yankee Stadium is within striking distance of this location. Also, a point of history, at one time the bridge was actually a dam used to hold water for a tide powered gristmill owned and operated by a Robert Macomb when completed in 1814. It also served as a toll-bridge (fraction of revenues was used to help the poor) and a manually-operated canal lock in the same time period. At some point in its history, it was torn down when it was deemed a navigation hazard. After a long period of building and razing, it finally became the swing bridge that is known today, when completed in 1895. Macombs_Dam,_Harlem_River_1850.jpg|Macombs Dam Bridge 1850 2x09 - Macombs Dam Bridge.jpg|Macombs Dam Bridge today 2x09 - QBR BR.jpg|Machine feed: "Queensboro Bridge" 2x09 - QBR BR1.jpg Macombs-Dam-Br.jpg Quotes *Fermin:Sorry, I'm not in service. Reese:Here's the thing.You're gonna want to give me a lift anyway. Fermin:Listen, I'm having a pretty lousy day, okay? You mind, uh, just getting out? Reese: I'm afraid it's gonna get a whole lot worse, Fermin. clicks Fermin:I don't want any trouble. Reese:Unfortunately, you and I don't have much to say on that matter. Now listen up. We're about ready to be boxed in by two cars. Four to six shooters. I want you to aim for the rear quarter panel of their car, and don't let off the gas, you got that? Now's a good time, Fermin. Fermin:Wait, what? (Hitting the quarter panel, is referred to Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT manuever, which is a tactical driving method taught to federal, state & local Law Enforcement Officers, or LEO for short. It is especially utilized by the President's Secret Service protective detail) Reese:Now, Fermin. screeching Finch (on phone): Mr. Reese, are you okay? Reese: I'm fine, Finch.But I think the real threat just found us. *Reese: I recognize their methods.Had a similar experience in Russia.It was a kill box. Had a similar experience in Russia. Didn't work out too well for them. Disabled the GPS. Can't risk them accessing it to track you down. Fermin: Who are you? Reese: Just a guy who needed a ride. (similar ambush method discussed in Risk called funneling) Promo Clips Video:Person of Interest - I Can Help|I Can Help Video:Person of Interest - You Can't Do This|You Can't Do This Video:Person of Interest - No Rush|No Rush Video:Person of Interest - Now's A Good Time|Now's A Good Time Video:Person of Interest - Reunion|Reunion Video:Person of Interest - Clear Out|Clear Out Video:Person of Interest - D3MIN 8|D3MIN 8 es:C.O.D. 209 209